6 Tips for Selecting a Web Designer

A professional website needs to be organized, professional, and attract the right audience to your company or services. Many small business owners make the mistake of believing that they can do it all. However, their can-do spirit just isn’t enough to handle all of their orders, run their social media pages, and create and develop a website.

The most effective way to create your dream website is to hire someone. To help you narrow your search and find the perfect web designer, we have a few tips:

Tip #1: Map Out Your Dream Website

Take a few minutes or hours to research the websites of your competitors.

What about their site captures your attention? Compose a list of all your must-have features, and some extra nice, but not necessary features.

Next, use a creative design program or draw by hand your ideal website. Start a folder or word document with links and pictures of how you want your site to look. Show this file to your web designer.

Tip #2: Set a Budget

Not all good web designers charge in the upper thousands for their services, but don’t expect to pay less than $1,000 for a professional looking website. The average web designer charges about $60 per hour. If someone works on your website full-time (8 hours) and takes two weeks (5-day work weeks) to design it, then you can expect to pay at least close to $5,000. That’s not even considering any extra fees.

A web designer determines how he charges: hourly, by project, or page. We recommend you hire one that charges by project. This eliminates any unexpected fees, and any worry about the designer prolonging the project just for extra cash.

Set a budget that falls between at least $5,000 and $10,000. If your small business is very new, and you’re worried that you can’t afford the high price, consider offering a portion of the profit until you earn enough to cover the entire website cost.

Tip #3: Start Your Search

There are a lot of different ways to find a web designer. You can post a project on a site like UpWork, disclose your budget, and watch freelancers bid on the project. Then you can choose from a list of candidates. Another solution is to post your job on a creative job board, like Mediabistro, Kropp, Dribble, or Talent Zoo.

You can also search through resumes on Indeed, contact a local firm for options, Google search for local web designers, attend creative meetups, or ask for referrals from friends.

Narrow your search to at least five candidates. Then start looking at their past work, their client list, and any customer reviews. Next, start an email correspondence to find out more about their design style and availability.

Tip #5: Interview Candidates

Narrow your list even more, but make sure you have at least three web designers left. Create a list of questions to ask them, including rates and estimated time to finish project.

Additionally, pay close attention to how many questions the designer asks you. It is your website and business, so his top priority should be learning enough about you to execute your design vision. Pay close attention to how you socialize with your web designer.

You will have to interact with him very often until your website is complete. Therefore, make sure to hire someone you feel comfortable around.

Tip #6: Book in Advance

Most highly sought-after web designers could be booked for weeks to years. Therefore, only hire a web designer when you have time to wait for your website’s launch. Rushed designs usually look sloppy and waste your money.

If you want to start selling your product immediately, set up a temporary website on a free site, and then inform your customers about the new site once it is finished.